Topic:Feral Horses
Feral horses, also known as free-roaming or wild horses, are equines that live in natural environments without direct human management. They are descendants of domesticated horses that have adapted to living in the wild over generations. These populations are found in various regions worldwide and exhibit behaviors and social structures distinct from domesticated horses. In contrast, domesticated horses are bred and raised under human care, often for specific purposes such as work, recreation, or sport. The study of feral horses involves understanding their ecology, behavior, and genetics, while research on domesticated horses often focuses on health, management, and performance. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the differences and similarities between feral and domesticated horses, including their behavior, physiology, and impact on ecosystems.
Extreme sex ratio variation in relation to change in condition around conception. Adaptive theory predicts that mothers would be advantaged by adjusting the sex ratio of their offspring in relation to their offspring's future reproductive success. Studies investigating sex ratio variation in mammals have produced notoriously inconsistent results, although recent studies suggest more consistency if sex ratio variation is related to maternal condition at conception, potentially mediated by changes in circulating glucose level. Consequently, we hypothesized that change in condition might better predict sex ratio variation than condition per se. Here, we investigate sex ratio v...
A comparison of Freund’s Complete and Freund’s Modified Adjuvants used with a contraceptive vaccine in wild horses (Equus caballus). Fifteen captive wild mares (Equus caballus) were treated with porcine zona pellucida contraceptive vaccine and either Freund's Complete Adjuvant (n = 7) or Freund's Modified Adjuvant (n = 8). All mares received a booster inoculation of porcine zona pellucida plus Freund's Incomplete Adjuvant a month later. Anti-porcine zona pellucida antibodies were measured over 10 mo following the initial inoculation. There were no significant differences in antibody titers at any point during the 10 mo, and seven of the eight mares in the Freund's Modified Adjuvant group were above the 60% level at the end ...
Hoof growth and wear of semi-feral ponies during an annual summer ‘self-trimming’ period. Despite growing interest in application natural models of hoof-maintenance in domestic horses, little data is available to describe natural conformation and proposed mechanisms of self-maintenance. Objective: Quantitatively describe hoof growth and wear during a period of 'self-trimming' within a herd of semi-feral ponies. Methods: Hoof length, growth and wear were measured for a sample of 40 animals during a period of 'self-trimming' from June through September, 2005. Results: For front hooves, mean toe lengths in July, August and September were significantly less than in June. For the hind, ...
Saving feral horse populations: does it really matter? A case study of wild horses from Doñana National Park in southern Spain. In the 1980s, a conservation programme involving a feral horse population, the Retuertas horses from the Guadalquivir marshes, was started in the Doñana National Park. The analysis of an extensive genetic survey of this population, which now numbers 100 animals, and 10 additional European and North African breeds using DNA polymorphisms from 22 microsatellites is presented. Highly significant fixation indexes were obtained for all pairwise comparisons between the Retuertas population and other breeds. A population neighbour-joining breed phenogram was built using different distance measures, ...
The gastro-intestinal parasites community of the Przewalski’s horse, Equus przewalskii Poljakov, 1881, and the domestic horse in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. A diagnostic deworming of 21 Przewalski horses, free-living in the Chernobyl exclusion zone Ukraine, and of six stabled domestic horses, has been conducted eighteen years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. This survey yielded 31 species (of 5 families and 3 classes, 28 species of nematodes, 1 species of cestodes, and 2 larvae of botflies). A total 29 and 19 helmith species has been recorded in the Przewalski horse and domestic horse respectively. Only six helmith species were common for the two horse species. Species from the family Strongylidae constituted the dominant helmith group. Four ...
Iberian origins of New World horse breeds. Fossil records, archaeological proofs, and historical documents report that horses persisted continuously in the Iberian Peninsula since the Pleistocene and were taken to the American continent (New World) in the 15th century. To investigate the variation within the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region of Iberian and New World horse breeds, to analyze their relationships, and to test the historical origin of New World horses, a total of 153 samples, representing 30 Iberian and New World breeds, were analyzed by sequencing mtDNA control region fragments. Fifty-four haplotypes were found and...
Preliminary evaluation of porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraception for behavioral effects in feral horses (Equus caballus). Successful management of captive populations of wild animals requires effective control of reproduction. Contraception is one tool for controlling reproduction of animals in zoos; however, the options available to the animal manager are limited. Contraceptives vary in efficacy, reversibility, and side effects, and thus may not be suitable for widespread use. One consideration when selecting a contraceptive is its potential for side effects on behavior, especially given the fact that reproduction plays such a prominent role in the biology of any species. To date, there have been few evaluations...
The robustness of faecal steroid determination for pregnancy testing Kaimanawa feral mares under field conditions. To investigate the utility of faecal oestrone sulphate (OS) concentrations for detecting pregnancy in mares during behavioural studies of feral horses, in which the collection and preservation of samples is not immediate. Methods: Oestrone sulphate concentrations were measured in fresh dung samples collected from 153 free-roaming Kaimanawa mares throughout the year. In addition, multiple samples were taken from the same pile to investigate the reliability of diagnosis from a single sample, as well as the influence of time until preservation on OS concentrations. Samples were also taken before ...
Use of remote sensing techniques to determine the effects of grazing on vegetation cover and dune elevation at Assateague Island National Seashore: impact of horses. The effects of grazing by feral horses on vegetation and dune topography at Assateague Island National Seashore were investigated using color-infrared imagery, lidar surveys, and field measurements. Five pairs of fenced and unfenced plots (300 m2) established in 1993 on sand flats and small dunes with similar elevation, topography, and vegetation cover were used for this study. Color-infrared imagery from 1998 and field measurements from 2001 indicated that there was a significant difference in vegetation cover between the fenced and unfenced plot-pairs over the study period. Fenced plots cont...
Review of horses in Paleoindian sites of the Americas. Analysis of the morphological characters in North and South American horses present during Paleoindian time indicates that at least eight Equus ecospecies occurred in North America. In South America, Equus had radiated into four ecospecies, Hippidion had one, and Onohippidium had three geographically separate ecospecies. These species are found in archeological deposits ranging from ca. 13,000 to 8,000 yr B.P., in tropical habitats as well as in the high Andean and Patagonian colder ecotopes.
FISH analysis comparing genome organization in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) to that of the Mongolian wild horse (E. przewalskii). Przewalski's wild horse (E. przewalskii, EPR) has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 66 while the domestic horse (E. caballus, ECA) has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 64. Discussions about their phylogenetic relationship and taxonomic classification have hinged on comparisons of their skeletal morphology, protein and mitochondrial DNA similarities, their ability to produce fertile hybrid offspring, and on comparison of their chromosome morphology and banding patterns. Previous studies of GTG-banded karyotypes suggested that the chromosomes of both equids were homologous and the differenc...
Laminitis in Przewalski horses kept in a semireserve. Semireserves were created by the European Conservation Project for scientific research in preparation for reintroduction in the wilderness. They are defined as enclosures large enough to carry a group of Przewalski horses throughout the year without any additional feeding. The semireserve offers diverse opportunities for significant scientific research. As part of a general screening program, the hoof development in a group of Przewalski horses was investigated in the semireserve Schorfheide near Berlin. Since the foundation of this semireserve in 1992, veterinary treatment was not necessary w...
Contribution to the history of the horse domestication and breeding in the Ukraine. The Ukraine is one of the centers of domestication of animals. Many archaeological excavations and chronicles evidence this. The wild horse tarpan was domesticated in Ukraine. There were huge herds of tarpans lived in Ukraine. Tarpans were distinguished for their speed, quality of their hooves (it was very important for the shoeless horses). The last tarpan mare was killed at Ukrainian territory at 1898. In contradistinction to the Eq. Prezewalskii the tarpan was the direct ancestor of the European domesticated horse breeds.
Reversibility of action and safety during pregnancy of immunization against porcine zona pellucida in wild mares (Equus caballus). Contraceptive management of publicly valued wildlife species requires safeguards to ensure that these populations are preserved in a healthy state. In addition, reversibility of contraceptive effects and safety in pregnant animals are major concerns. A population of wild horses has been immunized against porcine zona pellucida (PZP) over a 12 year period on Assateague Island National Seashore, MD (ASIS). Mares initially received one or two 65 microg inoculations and once a year 65 microg booster inoculations, all delivered by dart. All young mares aged > 2 years were treated with PZP for 3 ...
Porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraception of wild horses (Equus caballus) in Nevada: a 10 year study. Porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraception was investigated for possible use in free-roaming wild horses in the western USA. A protocol of two injections (3-4 weeks apart) of vaccine lasting 1 year was first used and a single-injection controlled-release vaccine of 1 year duration was developed and tested in the field. Studies of a presumptive vaccine of 2 year duration were initiated. The parameters of anti-PZP antibody titre response, pregnancy testing and offspring production were used, and PZP vaccine was found to provide up to 94% infertility in free-roaming wild mares. In addition,...
Effects of immunocontraception on population, longevity and body condition in wild mares (Equus caballus). Contraception is becoming a common approach for the management of captive and wild ungulates yet there are few data for contraceptive effects on entire populations. Management-level treatment of mares with porcine zona pellucida (PZP) vaccine resulted in zero population growth of the Assateague Island wild horse population within 1 year of initiation of treatment. Contraceptive efficacy was 90% for mares treated twice in the first year and annually thereafter. For mares given a single initial inoculation, contraceptive efficacy was 78%. The effort required to achieve zero population growth dec...
Demonstration of continuously seropositive population against Borna disease virus in Misaki feral horses, a Japanese strain: a four-year follow-up study from 1998 to 2001. Borna disease virus (BDV)-specific antibodies were monitored in Misaki feral horses annually for 4 years using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA). Among 130 horses examined, 35 (26.9%) with an ECLIA count above 1000 once or more were judged as BDV seropositive. Throughout the study period, p24 antibodies were more frequent than p40 antibodies in almost all positive animals. Among the 35 seropositive horses, the ECLIA count was consistently high in 12 cases. Eleven horses seroconverted from negative to positive and 7 underwent reversal. The count in the remaining 95 horses (73.1%) ...
Evaluation of a forage allocation model for Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We developed a forage allocation model using a deterministic, linear optimization module in a commercially available spreadsheet package to help resource managers in Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP), North Dakota determine optimum numbers of four ungulate species, bison (Bison bison), elk (Cervus elaphus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and feral horses, in the Park. TRNP staff actively managed bison, elk, and feral horse numbers within bounds suggested by our model from 1983 to 1996. During this period, we measured vegetation at 8 grassland and 12 wooded sites at 1-3 year intervals t...
Genetic variation in the feral horses of the Namib Desert, Namibia. Genetic variation at 7 blood-group and 10 biochemical genetic loci was examined in 30 horses from a feral herd from the Namib Desert of Namibia, Africa. The observed genetic variability was extremely low compared with that found in domestic horse breeds. The low variation was most probably a result of recent small population size and a small founding population size. Genetic comparison of the Namib horses, which were of unknown origins, to domestic horse breeds, showed that the Namib horses had the highest genetic similarity to Arabian type horses, although they did not closely resemble this t...
Investigating the origins of horse domestication. Before the development of firearms, the horse was crucial to warfare and, before the invention of the steam engine, it was the fastest and most reliable form of land transport. It is crucial to the life of nomadic pastoralists on the Eurasian steppe and played a major role in the evolution of human society during the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Understanding the human past requires knowledge of the origins and development of horse husbandry. The problem of being able to identify the early stages of horse domestication is one that many researchers have grappled with for the most part unsuccessfull...
Tests for cooperative behaviour between stallions. Breeding groups with multiple stallions occur sympatrically with single-stallion breeding groups in feral horse, Equus caballus, populations. Mutualism and reciprocal altruism between stallions have been proposed to explain the origin and functioning of multistallion bands. However, empirical support for these hypotheses is contradictory and incomplete. Furthermore, there are no explicit tests of the predictions that each hypothesis makes about stallion behaviour and social structure. We compared nine multistallion and 18 single-stallion bands in the Kaimanawa Ranges, New Zealand. Compared wit...